Strong winds wreak havoc across state

Wednesday, March 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WEATHERFORD, Okla. (AP) -- On a bright, cold morning, workers at the Wal-Mart store swept broken glass off the asphalt and used shopping carts today to tote tar paper that had been ripped from the roof when strong storms moved through the town Tuesday night.

"It just kind of rolled up like a can opener. A couple spots are pretty bad but we've got a couple of roofers up there trying to get it presentable," said Mark Norton, assistant store manager.

"The store is soaked. From what I understand the top of the roof lifted up and came back down," said Mike Stout, department manager for the Wal-Mart in Elk City. He came over to help.

Electricity remained off at the store today because of concerns about a gas leak from Tuesday night. Weatherford was one of the hardest hit towns by the storms that moved quickly across the state Tuesday night.

Damage also was reported in Anadarko, Mangum and Guthrie. The fast-moving storms packing winds up to 100 mph toppled automobiles and tractor-trailer rigs, knocked down power lines and damaged buildings across Oklahoma before finally moving out of the state early this morning. No injuries were reported although a woman fainted as she and others evacuated the Wal-Mart store in Weatherford when warning sirens sounded.

About a quarter of a mile away, a mobile home was ripped open and turned upside down leaving contents of the home scattered like so much debris. Only a small pile of personal items including a television, speakers and the couch were piled neatly next to the trailer.

"That trailer went over and I hit the floor," said neighbor Karen Hennigh, who was getting ready to leave for work when the storm hit Tuesday night.

"It moved my trailer three feet of its blocking, but I have it tied down. That one wasn't over there."

Hennigh said she felt cold air come in from the back of he rtrailer where wall panels had been ripped off. A new plywood floor just installed came up in several places.

"I feel lucky to be alive," she said. Most of the wind gusts with Tuesday's storms were clocked at60-80 mph, although the National Weather Service said a 100-mphgust was reported with a thunderstorm that moved through Wagoner County.

"Well, any time you don't have any more damage than this you're pretty fortunate, I think," Vernice Kaiser said as he watched crews prop up power poles that dangled around the First Baptist Church in Weatherford.

"I'm in the sign business here in Weatherford, and this is a test of whether you know how to put up a sign up or not, I promise you," he said. "I'm going to see if any of mine blew down."

Storm spotters reported a tornado on the ground near Sperry Tuesday night, the National Weather Service said. It wass hort-lived, however, and apparently didn't produce significant damage.

Police Chief Byron Cox said Interstate 40 in Weatherford was closed for a time after several vehicles were blown off the road and strong winds toppled power poles onto the highway.

Cox said spotters did not indicate the damage was tornado-related. Strong straight-line winds also were being blamed for damage in Anadarko, authorities said. "In our downtown business district, a lot of windows were broken out and several roofs were taken off," said police Lt. Greg Taylor.

He said two department stores suffered roof damage and power lines fell onto a grain elevator, which had its roof torn off. There were no reported injuries. Weak, short-lived tornadoes apparently formed ahead of the storm line, which moved to the northeast at about 50 mph.

In Greer County, strong winds damaged or destroyed five barns, overturned two vehicles and overturned an uninhabited mobile home. There were no injuries, said Glynadee Edwards, emergency management director.

Other damage included toppled power poles near Rocky in Washita County and near Alva in Woods County. Some businesses were damaged in Guthrie, and outbuildings were destroyed near Stillwater and Kingfisher.

Hail 3/4-inch in diameter or bigger was reported in Beckham, Greer and Harmon counties, the weather service said. Forecasters said abundant Gulf moisture and warmer-than-normal temperatures set the stage for the severe weather.

Intensifying low pressure developed ahead of the system, causing southerly winds to increase to 25 mph with higher gusts.